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Watchmen From Jerusalem – Issue #3, 2017

Shalom from Zion

Racing towards 2018, we are amazed at how much of what the Word said would happen in the last days is happening: Israel’s restoration agitating nations; the gospel declared throughout the earth and the huge end-time harvest happening now; the increase of knowledge; the push for a one-world government; God’s judgment upon nations trying to divide His land; God giving societies over to a reprobate mind resulting in LGBT out of the closet and seen as normative; the cancer of anti-Semitism and the release of the green (“pale”) horse of Revelation – green being Islam’s official color. That list is enough to spotlight God doing a sudden work to wrap up this age.

In light of this it is vital to trust the biblical truth that our God reigns. While the Adversary and mankind may have some leeway, God directs the course of history. How close is Yeshua’s return? Only He knows, but as the 70th anniversary of the rebirth of Israel is coming in 2018, it is imperative that we continue to watch and pray – for the end of all things may soon be at hand (1 Pet. 4:7).

The root supports you

Boast not against the branches [unbelieving Jews]. But if you boast, know that you do not support the root, but the root supports you. (Rom. 11:18) Gentiles in Messiah Yeshua are now grafted into Israel’s olive tree. That truth is supported by “the root,” which is God’s promise to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob that in their Seed all the families of earth would be blessed (Gen. 12:3; 22:18; 26:4; 27:14). Paul calls this promise the gospel, the good news, to the gentiles (Gal. 3:8). In Romans 15:8-12, he says it was a major reason for Messiah coming to and serving the Jewish people.

Paul warns against treating God’s chosen people arrogantly (Rom. 11:19-23). Much of the Western Church has done just this by teaching believers to interpret the Old Testament [Tanach] through the filter of the New, yet the New Testament [NT] uses the Tanach to prove its theology is of God (2 Tim. 3:15-17).

Try this eye-opening bible study. Trace all NT uses of the word “scripture” and substitute “Old Testament.” Historically, this is what the NT refers to. Now ask yourself if you really believe what the NT declares about the Tanach? If not, why call yourself a New Testament believer if you don’t believe this most basic proof for the NT being God’s Word, a continuation and fulfillment of the only Scriptures the Church in the New Testament had? It’s simple. If you do not believe that all of the Tanach is still God’s Word, then you really do not believe the New Testament either.

The importance of history lessons

H. R. Gur writes that liberal elites often view Israeli PM Bibi Netanyahu as part of the Trump-Brexit-Le Pen-AfD move of democracies to the far-right in a “populist surge” which could “shake the foundations of the liberal world order.” Yet this view “is shallow, the evidence drawn almost entirely from the news cycle…” Bibi is not a populist nor does he “believe his political identity is rooted in upending an established political order…”

A division exists between him and other right-wing figures. If “Trump pushes ahead with his peace initiative,” it will ram into “Netanyahu’s fear of what he sees as irresponsible concessions …” While Trump seems to live/think in the now, “Netanyahu sees himself at the wave-front of a long and demanding history.”

In a 2013 event, Bibi expressed this to the US Congress: “History is an understanding of the forces that work, the values that shape present action and direct the future. If you have that knowledge, you are empowered in ways that you can’t be by watching the nightly news or reading the morning editorials. We live in an ahistorical age when many people’s memories go back to breakfast, but if you’re armed with that insight you have immense power for good.”

Gur says, “Netanyahu’s critics frequently deride the flowery and often tendentious historical references that pepper his speeches,” but he is a student of his late father, esteemed historian Benzion Netanyahu, “gleaning from him a defining sense of responsibility to a deep past and a belief that the most important trends and facts in a nation’s political life are not those that find expression in the news cycle.”

Gur states that for Bibi, “the small community of people who stand at the helm of human affairs is divided not between left and right so much as between the impatient ignoramus and the considered planner.” (“Damning with deafening praise: Why Netanyahu is unimpressed by Trump,” H. R. Gur, TOI Op-ed, 21 May 2017)

Referring to “the partial cease-fire in southwestern Syria” which Trump negotiated with Russian President Putin and which is a danger to Israel, leaving Iran sitting along Israel’s Syrian border, Zev Chafets warns about the lessons of history. In the midst of WW I, the UK and France divided the Ottoman Empire between them without consulting their allies or the native people living there. We are still paying for that arrogant move.

Chafets notes that Netanyahu is respected by both Trump and Putin. Bibi’s constantly “realistic appraisal of the ME contributes to the confidence both sides have in him.” In the late ’70s he “warned that Arab terrorism against Israel, if tolerated by the West, would eventually morph into a worldwide epidemic.” In 1993, he rejected “the Oslo Accords as an effort to paper over insuperable differences between Israel and the Palestinians,” predicting it would end in bloodshed. He saw the “Arab Spring” as only “media euphoria” which would not end up with democracy – but disaster. And he “has been right in insisting that Iranian aggression is the most acute problem in the ME…”

Netanyahu’s respect from both these world leaders has been noticed by others. In July, India’s PM Modi visited Jerusalem, calling “for an alliance against terrorism,” yet saying not a word about a Palestinian state, a cause that India, with the world’s second-largest Muslim population, has zealously supported for decades. He also warmly invited Bibi to visit India.

Then Bibi went to Paris for a ceremony recalling the “Vichy complicity in the Holocaust.” During his visit, French president Macron said that “anti-Zionism is a reinvention of anti-Semitism,” reinforcing “Netanyahu’s oft-mocked mantra.” (“The ME’s New Peacemaker: Israel,” Z. Chafets, Bloomberg View, 17 July 2017)

Melanie Phillips, columnist for The Times (UK), penned an open letter to Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and point man on peace negotiations. She was encouraged to hear him say to a group of congressional interns, “there may be no solution…” Yet she was miffed when he said, “We don’t want a history lesson,” but to focus on a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian situation.

Phillips: “If you really don’t think history is important, then you aren’t even going to get off the starting block. For heaven’s sake, this is all about history. The Jewish people’s unique claim to the land is rooted in the history of this land.”

History shows “us this is a war of aggression by the Arab and Muslim world against the Jews. And it really matters here who is the aggressor and who the victim.” The West rejects this as not important, viewing this as “a conflict between two warring sides.” But no, Israel is just defending itself against annihilation.

History reveals that this is a religious war. “In the 1920s, the grand mufti of Jerusalem…incited pogroms against the returning Jews by falsely claiming the Jews intended to destroy al-Aksa,” the mosque on the Temple Mount. That same accusation is “used today by the mufti’s contemporary cheerleader, Abbas.”

The problem is that “the way this issue has been” presented is essentially wrong. “It is not a ‘conflict’ but a war of annihilation. There can be no negotiation with aggressors” in a war like that, as “any compromise with such a non-negotiable agenda is a form of surrender…” Yet the West rewards Arab and Muslim hostility in Israel “by treating that agenda as legitimate. This continues today in the West’s insistence on treating Palestinians not as murderous and colonialist pariahs but as statesmen-in-waiting.” (“An Open Letter to Jared Kushner,” M. Phillips, JP Op-ed, 3 Aug. 2017)

The US State Department vs. the Jewish State

The US State Dept. has been anti-Zionist even before the founding of modern Israel, and tried to discourage President Truman from recognizing Israel in 1948. Blessedly, he refused, yet State Dept. actions continue to be a real pain. In July, its annual Country Reports on Terrorism 2016 blamed Israeli policies as the impetus behind Palestinian terrorism.

While noting that Israel faced “terrorist threats,” like missiles, vehicle-rammings, and knife attacks, it accused Israeli actions for inciting these. “Continued drivers of violence included a lack of hope in achieving Palestinian statehood, Israeli settlement construction…settler violence against Palestinians…and IDF tactics that the Palestinians considered overly aggressive.”

The report also lied saying the Palestinian Authority [PA] had made major “efforts to halt such violence.” It praised President Abbas “for alleviating tensions in the West Bank, cooperating with Israeli security forces and tamping down on incitement.” This is the opposite of what US Republicans have said as they urge “the administration to take a harder stance on Palestinian incitement, particularly its practice of providing social welfare payments to families of terrorists who kill Israelis…”(“State Dept. says settlements, ‘lack of hope’ drive Palestinian violence,” TOI, 21 July 2017)

A. Z. Mohamed, a ME Muslim, said this report “completely distorts the situation in Israel.” Topping their list of theoretical “drivers of violence” is “a lack of hope,” but “it is precisely the propping up of hope – that intimidation and terrorism work and deliver concessions…that keeps Palestinians on the offensive.”

To support the conclusion that “holds Israel accountable for Palestinian violence,” the report claims Abbas and the PA are committed to lessen the flames of violence and incitement against Israel. Yet the PA has total control over the content of textbooks, “print and broadcast media pieces, and sermons in mosques, all of which are rife with blatant anti-Semitism,” and the glorification of terrorism. (“State Dept.’s Report on terrorism should be discredited,” A. Z. Mohamed, Gatestone Institute, 2 Aug. 2017)

Peace – or piece by piece?

In a May interview, Netanyahu asked rhetorically, “Why is there no peace? It is not because of the territories or the settlements,” as from 1920 to 1967, Israel had no territories or settlements – yet the Arabs still “wanted to throw us out of Tel Aviv. When we left Gaza – they wanted to throw us out of Tel Aviv.” And today, even if all demands are met, if asked if they will give up their “demand for the right of return of Palestinians to Jaffa,” just south of Tel Aviv, they refuse to answer. “The root cause of the conflict was and still is the refusal of Palestinians to recognize the State of Israel as the nation state of the Jewish People, under any borders.” (“[Bibi] clarifies parameters for future negotiations,” ICEJ News, 30 May 2017)

At a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, Netanyahu said that Israel seeks a real peace, yet it must be able to defend itself. “For that reason, in any agreement, and even without an agreement, we will maintain security control over the entire territory west of the Jordan River.” (“Netanyahu: Israel will keep security control over Judea and Samaria,” Israel Hayom, 6 June 2017)

Sarah Stern, head of the pro-Israel think tank Endowment for ME Truth, notes that for years “experts” have said, “We all know what a solution to the ‎Palestinian-Israeli conflict looks like.” ‎Yet the most critical “‎test for determining a negotiating partner’s real intentions” is not what they say in English, but what is said to each other in Arabic, and “in particular, what they ‎teach their children.”‎

John Calvin, an ex-Muslim believer, was born in Nablus. As a youth “he ‎was taught there would not be two states,” but only Palestine. Islamic doctrine teaches that there will “‎be conflict until all worship is only to Allah.” Calvin: “The conception of peace, as we know it in the West, simply does not exist within Islam. ‎There can be a hudna, a temporary cessation of war, but only to regroup. Islam means total ‎submission, or surrender, and permanent peace can only happen when the entire world surrenders ‎to Islamic rule.”‎‎(“Crossing the Rubicon,” S. N. Stern, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 27 Aug. 2017)

On August 28th, in an address marking the 50th anniversary of Jewish resettlement in Judea and Samaria, Bibi said, “Samaria is a strategic asset for the State of Israel. It is the cradle of our people and the key to its future…This is the land we inherited from our forefathers. This is our land… We have cultivated and protected this place, because it also protects us…From its cliffs and hilltops it is possible to see from one end of the land to the other.” Now imagine if “on these peaks that dominate the Dan region there were extremist forces of Islam.” It would threaten all Israel and all the rest of the ME. (“Netanyahu gives major address on settlements,” ICEJ News, 29 Aug. 2017)

US ambassador to Israel, David Freidman, told the JP Trump views a peace deal as a “high priority,” but he wants something embraced by both sides. He stressed that contrary to some EU leaders and the Obama administration, the current White House “is not interested in imposing a final status agreement on Israel …If it’s not good for both, it’s not going to get done…”

Freidman knows that “‘settlements’ are an issue,” and he has no problem discussing them during peace talks, but, “settlements and terrorism do not belong in the same sentence…because the killing of innocent life…is so much more abhorrent and repugnant and inconsistent with a peace process than the building of apartments.”(“Trump, Netanyahu have phenomenal relationship,” Arutz 7, 1 Sept. 2017)

Israel-haters – confused & ashamed (Psa. 35:4,6; 129:5)

Dr. Ephraim Herrera writes that “wars Muslims fight against one another” are more deadly than wars they wage against “infidels.” Tens of millions have been killed or wounded over the last 50 years, and many more than that have been made refugees. We see this today in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, Libya and Sudan.

While economic and geopolitical interests play a role in these wars, they do not really explain this deadly turmoil. The warring parties have their “own justifications” and shouts of Allahu akbar – Allah is greater – “whether from Sunnis or Shiites, members of al-Qaida or Hezbollah, Iraqi soldiers or Syrian soldiers,” prove they all fight “in the name of Allah” while cursing any Muslim foe as kafir – an unbeliever. This is “the root of the bloodshed.”

Liberal Muslim clerics see as kafir those who do not believe in Allah and his prophet Muhammad. The penalty for this is death. Some Jews, Christians and others are “spared,” yet must “forfeit their lands and civil rights,” becoming dhimmis, a second class “non-Muslim citizen of an Islamic state.”

Today, many clerics expand the definition of kafir to condemn all “who do not adhere to their particular brand of Islam.” Sunnis see Syrian Alawites as apostates; ISIS says all Muslim regimes and their soldiers are kafir, including the Muslim Brotherhood [MB] and all Shiites; and Muslims fighting the MB or ISIS are seen as kafir that must be killed. “Under the Arab spring, these roots blossomed into bloody civil wars…

Herrera closes, “[It] isn’t clear what can mend the Islamic world’s severe internal bleeding, bring about significant reforms, and eradicate the word kafir from the Muslim lexicon. One thing is certain; a lack of belief is not at the root of the problem.” (“The Muslim world’s internal bleeding,” Dr. E. Herrera, Israel Hayom Op-ed, 13 July 2017) The only antidote to cure the Islamic world is not a change in doctrine or an Islamic reformation – but a Person, Yeshua.The many Israel-loving ex-Muslim believers are living proof.

UN = really, the United Nothings

Nations rage against God and His nation, but Isaiah declares, All nations before Him are as nothing… (Isa. 40:17a)

Israel Today reported that at a UN Human Rights Council debate in June, UN Watch director, Hillel Neuer, challenged a report blaming Israel for Palestinian wife abuse. He asked the author, D. Šimonovic, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women, “Is it right to continue infantilizing Palestinians,” so that if a man in Ramallah beats his wife, he is encouraged to say, “Israel made me do it?”

He also questioned “how the report could draw a dubious link between Israeli security and Palestinian spousal abuse,” while totally ignoring sermons by PA Muslim clerics encouraging just such domestic violence. (“UN Excuses Wife-Beating as Natural Reaction to ‘Israeli Occupation’,” Israel Today, 22 June 2017)

The UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in July, “reaffirmed a resolution” labeling Israel an “occupying power” of Jerusalem’s Old City, i.e., biblical Jerusalem, condemning “Israeli archaeological excavations” there. The UN doesn’t want Jews to dig up any dirt about their own history!

Israel’s Foreign Ministry retorted that UNESCO now “works in the service of the enemies of history and truth.” And Israeli UN ambassador Danon said, “There is nothing more shameful than the UN determining that the only Jewish state in the world is an ‘occupier’ at the Western Wall and in the Old City.”(“Anti-Israel UNESCO resolution ‘pathetic,’ Foreign Ministry…,” Israel Hayom, 5 July 2017)

Bibi at the yearly UN General Assembly

Bibi reminded the UNGA that last year he told them Israel was undergoing a “revolution” in its “standing among the nations.” Countries are seeing what Israel can offer them, “in innovation, technology,” and “in fighting terrorism.”

He then criticized “the UN and its agencies” for targeting Israel. “Syria has barrel-bombed, starved, gassed and murdered hundreds of thousands of its own citizens and wounded millions more, while Israel has provided lifesaving medical care to thousands of Syrian victims of that very same carnage. Yet who does the World Health Organization criticize? Israel. Is there no limit to the UN’s absurdities when it comes to Israel?” He then noted that UNESCO “declared the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron a Palestinian World Heritage site. That’s worse than fake news, that’s fake history…” Yes, Abraham, both Isaac and Ishmael’s father, is buried there, but so are Isaac, Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah, the “patriarchs and matriarchs of the Jewish people.” That truth is not found in UNESCO’s report, but “you can read about it in a somewhat weightier publication. It’s called the Bible… I highly recommend it… [It] even got four-and-a-half out of five stars on Amazon. And it’s a great read. I read it every week.”

Netanyahu agreed with Trump, when at the UN he “called the nuclear deal with Iran…an embarrassment.” Bibi: “Iran vows to destroy” Israel almost daily, is directing “a campaign of conquest across the ME” as well as “developing ballistic missiles…”

In 2015, he warned the UN that this deal will not stop Iran from developing the bomb since the “sunset clause,” which comes into effect after a decade, frees Iran “to enrich uranium on an industrial scale.” It will then be one step from having nuclear-weapons. To those still defending this deal, “arguing it will block Iran’s path to the bomb,” this is exactly what was said “about the nuclear deal with North Korea and we all know how that turned out…”

Israel’s policy on this deal is simple: “Change it or cancel it, fix it or nix it. Nixing the deal means restoring massive pressure on Iran, including crippling sanctions, until Iran fully dismantles its nuclear weapons capability. Fixing the deal requires many things, among them inspecting any military or other site that is suspect and penalizing Iran for every violation. Above all, fixing the deal means getting rid of the sunset clause.

“We must also stop Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and roll back its growing aggression in the region…” Today an Iranian curtain descends on the ME. “Iran spreads this curtain of tyranny and terror over Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and elsewhere, and it pledges to extinguish the light of Israel.” Addressing Iran’s leader, the Ayatollah Khamenei, he said, “The light of Israel will never be extinguished…Those who threaten us with annihilation put themselves in mortal peril.”

Warning the world, Netanyahu said, Israel will “act to prevent Iran from establishing permanent military bases in Syria…to prevent Iran from producing deadly weapons in Syria or in Lebanon for use against us, and…to prevent Iran from opening new terror fronts against Israel along our northern border.”

Speaking directly to Iranians in English and Farsi, he added, “You are not our enemy…” When the day comes and “you will be free from the evil regime…the friendship between our two ancient peoples will surely flourish once again.”

He ended with this: “As the Prophet Isaiah said, ‘I have made you a light unto the nations, bringing salvation to the ends of the earth’.” (“PM takes aim at Iran in UNGA address,” Israel Hayom, 20 Sept. 2017; “[Bibi] Responds to UN ‘Absurdities’ on Israel: ‘It’s called the Bible. I Highly Recommend It’,” cnsnews.com, 20 Sept. 2017)

The Iranian threat on Israel’s northern borders

Iran is expanding its influence in Syria, in Lebanon with Hizbullah, and in Gaza with a renewed relationship with Hamas. Geographically, it is surrounding Israel. Is this a fulfillment of Micah 4:11-13? Now many nations gather against you, saying, ‘Let her be defiled; let our eye look upon Zion’. But they do not know the thoughts of YHWH; nor do they understand His counsel – for He gathers them as sheaves unto the floor. ‘Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion, for I will make your horn iron, I will make your hoofs bronze, and you shall crush many people. And I will consecrate their gain to YHWH, and their substance to the Lord of the whole earth.

In August, a “string of local victories by forces loyal to Syrian President Assad” stirred concern, especially in Jordan and Lebanon. A victory for Assad in eastern Syria would link that area, “backed by Iran, with Shiite Iraq,” creating the “Shiite axis” that many Israeli and Arab experts have warned about.

In August, Netanyahu met Putin in Russia to explain that Iran’s “presence in Syria threatens” Israel and the ME. Although Israel tries to press Russia to rein in Iran, it has “relatively little leverage.” Dr. J. Schanzer of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies said, “Israel has its own missile defense and air defense systems for its perimeter, which gives it a seat at the table, but in terms of telling the Russians or the US what to do…?” This is why our prayers are so vital, since on a much more influential table before our King Messiah, we have incredible influence (Psa. 50:15; Prov. 15:8b; 1 John 5:24-25).

Israel has consistently and firmly shared with Russia, saying “This is what we are going to do when we see certain Iranian or Hezbollah activity’.” Thank God, Israel has backed up its redlines with actions – as with a recent attack against a Syrian chemical weapon storage facility – and Russia has essentially kept quiet. (“Netanyahu to Putin: Iran Seeks to ‘Annihilate Israel,’ Control Syria & the Region,” Israel Today, 24 Aug. 2017)

Yet Russia’s UN Ambassador told reporters “the de-escalation zones established in Syria, of which Iran is a guarantor alongside Turkey and Russia,” are a genuine advance to end this tragic war. “…we think that Iran in Syria is playing a very constructive role.” (“PM to Putin: Israel is ready to act unilaterally against Iran’s presence in Syria,” Israel Hayom, 24 Aug. 2017) Note: Russia, Iran, Syria and Turkey remind us of the Gog-group in Ezekiel 38-39.

Jonathan Spyer notes with concern that in mid-August there was a flurry of “diplomatic and military activity” all centered around Iran. “In backing the Shia militias as political and military forces, opposing Kurdish aspirations to independence, seeking by all possible means to establish forces along the border with Israel, and seeking to draw Turkey away from the West and toward itself, Tehran is pursuing a coherent, comprehensive policy and strategy,” which ignores all distinctions between Iraq, Syria and Lebanon. Allies and assets are being used to maximize Iran’s “reach and political/military potency within this space.”

Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, the Kurdish Regional Government, Turkish and Iranian Kurdish paramilitary forces, and the remaining non-jihadi Syrian rebels, are the main players blocking “Iranian advancement in the ME… Much will depend on …lines of communication and cooperation in this camp.” This battle with Iran is the ME’s “core strategic conflict.” (“And the Winner in Syria is…Iran,” Jonathan Spyer, JP Op-ed, 26 Aug. 2017)

While Israel has stressed its opposition to Iranian “efforts to entrench itself militarily in Syria and Lebanon,” defense officials reportthat most nations are “apathetic to Israel’s stance…” That will change once Israel defends itself. (“Iran’s new weapons facilities in Lebanon ‘cross a red line,’ Israel says,” Israel Hayom, 1 Sept. 2017)

Dr. Emily Landau, an expert on Iran and North Korea said, “Iran can be where N. Korea is” quickly. With the possibility of N. Korean ICBMs and a hydrogen bomb, she noted concerns that it might transfer nuclear weapons technology to Iran.(“What does the West need to do to stop Iran from becoming N. Korea?” JP, 5 Sept. 2017)

Prophetic scenarios?

The Roman Catholic Church has become more humanistic and liberal and Pope Francis just made sure this continues. Francis neutralized one of the few whose job it was to call out the pope for his endless appetite for doctrinal change, by removing the head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Cardinal Müller, who “represented the conservative wing of the church that has looked askance at the current pontiff’s disregard for centuries-old tradition and restrictions.”

The Pope replaced Müller with Archbishop L. Ladaria, a Jesuit like himself. “That reduces the likelihood the pope will meet opposition from the one office in the church with the duty” to guard what “doctrinal teaching” goes out “to the church’s billion plus adherents.”(“Vatican shakeup – behind the sweet smile, Pope Francis flexes his muscle,” Fox News, 2 July 2017)

This same disregard for doctrine has infiltrated evangelical churches. If you attend church regularly, when was the last time you heard a solid doctrinal message? Yet Paul often mentions “doctrine” – literally, “teaching”. He means systematic bible instruction so that believers have the food they need to grow.

A day after the deadly Barcelona vehicular attack, M. Bar-Hen, the city’s chief rabbi, said Jewish life there was “doomed,” as Spanish authorities refuse “to confront radical Islam…” He has exhorted his congregants for years to leave, saying, “Don’t think we’re here for good…buy property in Israel.” Europe, he says, has already “lost” the war on terror. (“Following attack…chief rabbi says his community is doomed,” TOI, 18 Aug. 2017)

Hungary’s PM Orbán said, “There are two distinct views in Europe” regarding the decline and aging of its people. One wants “to address Europe’s demographic problems” via immigration. The other, held by Eastern European nations, says “we must solve our demographic problems” by relying on ourselves and “by renewing ourselves spiritually.” Orbán warned of a “Muslimized Europe,” wondering “whether Europe will continue to belong to Europeans…” (“Muslims Tell Europe: ‘One Day All This Will Be Ours’,” G. Meotti, Gatestone Institute, 19 Aug. 2017)

Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc with Houston’s Jewish community, its schools and synagogues, so Israel sent foreign aid to US Jews. “Diaspora Affairs Minister Bennett has pledged $1 million in relief… saying, ‘For years Jewish communities stood by Israel when it needed their help; now it is our turn…'”

Elliot Abrams sees this as the trend of the future. “It is logical to expect Israel to show, in ways such as this, that it is steadily becoming the largest and most important Jewish community in the world. Once upon a time, the center of world Jewish life was in Israel; then it moved to Europe; then to the US; now it is moving back to where it all began.” (“Israeli Foreign Aid to American Jews,” E. Abrams, Council on Foreign Relations Blog, 5 Sept. 2017)